Limited to 750 copies, get the jump on the hotly anticipated debut title of the VALIANT FIRST publishing initiative with this exclusive, limited edition run of RAI #1 – the FIRST ISSUE of Valiant’s next ongoing series from superstar creators Matt Kindt (Unity, Mind MGMT) and Clayton Crain (Carnage, X-Force)! Arriving in comic shops everywhere on April 30th, discover the astonishing world of the 41st century with the all-new series unlike anything else in comics today! In the far future of 4001 A.D., Japan is a single endless city-state, governed by a benevolent artificial intelligence and policed by one lone enforcer – the mysterious Rai, spirit guardian of the rising sun. But, soon, a single bullet will shatter the peace it has taken 2,000 years to secure…

Then, join us on Sunday, April 27th at 2:30 PM in Room #S403 for the VALIANT FIRST: RAI, ARMOR HUNTERS, AND BEYOND panel presentation! The coming of VALIANT FIRST begins at C2E2 with an all-new round of news, announcements, artwork and Q&A about the most in-demand publishing company in comics today. What do you read FIRST? All summer long, Valiant will be rocketing to the top of your read pile with VALIANT FIRST – an all-new initiative unleashing a major #1 issue by some of the most talented creators in comics each month from May onward. With the earth-shaking events of ARMOR HUNTERS – Valiant’s colossal summer crossover event – just weeks away, get the inside track on what happens next for X-O MANOWAR, UNITY, BLOODSHOT, HARBINGER, and more from an all-star panel of Valiant creators and staff, including writer Joe Harris (Armor Hunters: Bloodshot), artist Clayton Henry (Harbinger, Archer & Armstrong), colorist Brian Reber (Unity, X-O Manowar), Executive Editor Warren Simons, and Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani.

Valiant is proud to present an advance preview of ARMOR HUNTERS #1 (of 4) – the FIRST ISSUE of Valiant’s action-packed summer crossover event by New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti (X-O Manowar, Green Lantern) and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite (Unity, Justice)! Featuring an armor-plated, wraparound Chromium cover by red-hot artist Jorge Molina (X-Men), this is the best chance yet to jump into the world of Valiant’s chart-topping heroes – just as X-O Manowar goes to head-to-head with a team of hardened hunter-killers with a closely guarded link to the very origins of his armor.

When Aric of Dacia returned to Earth with the stolen X-O Manowar armor of an alien race, he thought he finally found a weapon to guard the peace and kingdom he’d struggled so long to secure. But now, a relentless and surgical strike team from the farthest reaches of space – sworn to exterminate the armor and all like it – have found their final target. The ARMOR HUNTERS are coming. They will hunt. They will trap. They will kill. And they will rid the universe of the X-O Manowar’s incalculable destructive power…even if it means taking the Earth with it.

“The Hunters have been hardened by a long and difficult campaign against the Manowar armors,” writer Robert Venditti told USA Today. “They don’t come to Earth to make friends or forge alliances. They come to finish the fight.”

In the tradition of the universe-shaking HARBINGER WARS, Valiant’s biggest heroes begin the year’s blockbuster crossover event right here in ARMOR HUNTERS #1 (of 4) – and then launch the resistance against the world’s first full-scale cosmic threat with new arcs beginning in UNITY #8 and X-O MANOWAR #26 in June; and ARMOR HUNTERS: BLOODSHOT #1 (of 3) and ARMOR HUNTERS: HARBINGER #1 (of 3) beginning in July – each featuring one of five wraparound Chromium covers by some of the biggest talents in comics today!

Retailers will be eligible to “Unlock Chromium” based on their orders of ARMOR HUNTERS #1 (of 4), UNITY #8, X-O MANOWAR #26, ARMOR HUNTERS: BLOODSHOT #1 (of 3), and ARMOR HUNTERS: HARBINGER #1 (of 3). After “unlocking” each separate title, qualifying retailers may order as many Chromium editions of the corresponding title as they like. Retailers be advised: due to the lead time needed to manufacture this special cover process, print runs for all five ARMOR HUNTERS CHROMIUM EDITIONS have already been set. Supplies are robust but limited, and allocations may occur. If allocations do occur, they will be made based on initial orders.

This summer, bend the knee…or take the head when Valiant brings the deadly legacy of the X-O Manowar armor down full bore on planet Earth, beginning on June 11th in ARMOR HUNTERS #1 (of 4)!

*RETAILERS BE ADVISED: Due to the lead time needed to produce chromium, Armor Hunters Chromium Editions will be available in robust but limited quantities set prior to solicitation, and orders may be allocated.

Valiant is proud to present your first look inside SHADOWMAN: END TIMES #1 (of 3) – the oversized, 40-page FIRST ISSUE of an all-new, standalone adventure that will push New Orleans’ nocturnal guardian to a perilous new tipping point! From master storyteller Peter Milligan (Hellblazer, Red Lanterns) and acclaimed artist Valentine De Landro (X-Factor), start reading here on April 30th with a brand new introduction to the series that Bloody Disgusting calls “infectious” as the newly anointed Shadowman, Jack Boniface, meets his End Times head on!

Jack Boniface thinks that he’s finally fixed his life – and the source of the dark power inside him. But when a figure from the past emerges to reveal the troubling truth about his destiny, the latest Shadowman will be forced to run a gauntlet of his darkest fears realized: the rise of a wild new pantheon of Voodoo loas… the return of his father, Josiah…and the earthly restoration of his oldest and deadliest enemy, Master Darque!

Shadowman is about to get pushed to the edge…but can Jack Boniface survive the plunge? Find out on April 30th when SHADOWMAN: END TIMES #1 (of 3) awakes – in comic shops everywhere the same day as RAI #1!

Unity is anything but unified as the team fractures and must start from scratch. But they’d better hurry because a new threat is looming…and Ninjak must tackle a viral epidemic that has been lying in wait for generations. A sickness is spreading across the land and only the doctor has the cure… Dr. Silk!

“Mission: Improbable” rockets into its explosive climax as four world-shattering forces collide! Will Bloodshot re-capture Archer for Project Rising Spirit…or is a double-cross in the works?! Will H.A.R.D. Corps figure out how you kill an immortal like Armstrong…or are they going home in body bags? Only one thing’s for certain…it doesn’t matter who loses – you win!

Limited to 500 copies, this WonderCon-exclusive release captures Valiant’s team of wayward teenage heroes just before they strike out into the pages of the most important Harbinger story ever told in “Death of a Renegade” – an all-new turning point beginning in April’s Harbinger #22 that will see one of the Renegades’ own fall…and change everything that follows in its wake.

Then, join an all-star panel of Valiant creators and staff on Saturday, April 19th at 11:30 AM PST in Room #203 for the VALIANT COMICS: INSIDE VALIANT FIRST panel presentation, spotlighting the biggest wave of must-read releases yet from one of the most acclaimed and in-demand publishers in comics today! What do you read FIRST? All summer long, Valiant will be rocketing to the top of your read pile with VALIANT FIRST – an all-new initiative unleashing a major #1 issue each month from May onward by some of the most talented creators in comics. And, with ARMOR HUNTERS, the Earth-shaking comic book event of 2014, just weeks away, check in here to find out what the future holds for Valiant’s award-winning heroes. Plus: get your first look at all-new news and artwork from RAI, THE DEATH-DEFYING DR. MIRAGE, UNITY, X-O MANOWAR, QUANTUM AND WOODY, HARBINGER, BLOODSHOT, and much more!

This April, get ready to see Quantum and Woody‘s world famous sidekick, Vincent Van Goat, like you’ve never seen him before – 45 feet tall and straddling the entrance to Chicago’s McCormick Place!

Valiant is proud to announce that it has partnered with ReedPOP to attempt a new world record on site at C2E2 2014 – Chicago’s premier comics and pop culture convention – to claim the title of “world’s largest freestanding goat” just as the convention opens it doors to the public on April 25th, 2014.

“The Goat has been the MVP of Quantum and Woody – and maybe all of Valiant – when it comes to piquing interest and curiosity in new readers,” said James Asmus, writer of Quantum and Woody. “I have no doubt that having to enter the convention by walking beneath the realistic under-side of a giant goat will have lots of new comic fans asking ‘What the [expletive of choice] is this about?’”

“For whatever reason, the fans just can’t get enough Goat. We finally gave in and gave them the Goat #0 origin issue, but that just made it worse. We’ve got dozens of people showing up to our offices each day. They’re getting tattoos. They’re legally changing their names to ‘Vincent Van Goat,” said Valiant Publisher Fred Pierce.

“We’re mystified, but we figured, hey, bigger is better right? Hence, the world’s largest freestanding goat was born. Or, rather, will be built. At minimal risk to the surrounding populace. We hope,” added Valiant CEO and Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani.

“Valiant is doing what?” said Jennifer Martin, Sales Executive for ReedPOP. “Not only do they not have permission to build whatever this thing is, it sounds incredibly reckless. This is ill-advised on multiple levels, not to mention unsafe.”

Under the strict observation of Valiant interns, the volunteer G.O.A.T. squad (the Giant Organizational Assembly Team) will begin work today on the 45 foot tall by 25 foot wide effigy dedicated to the greatness of the world’s worst superhero team and their square-pupiled partner-in-crime. A standard size representation of Quantum and Woody, with accompanying banana, will also be provided for scale.

But Quantum and Woody fans rejoice – Valiant isn’t stopping there! Not only will the sculpture qualify as the largest goat ever erected in the history of human civilization, but it will also double as a fully functioning piñata to be stuffed with comics, candy, fireworks…and even smaller goat piñatas.

To be constructed with materials including discount-quality chicken wire, pipefittings, and kerosene-soaked human hair, Valiant’s project managers expect the project to be completed in just under three weeks with a minimal loss of human life. The record-setting goat will be displayed for all three days of C2E2, culminating with Sunday’s “Valiant First Piñata Party,” during which attending fans will be equipped with official Goat bludgeoning rods. The first fan to successfully penetrate the artificial beast’s incredibly flammable hide and unearth the goodies inside will be offered up in tribute to the gods of retailer ordering practices.

Parking is expected to be difficult. In the event of lightning, maintain a minimum safe distance and shelter in place.

Reading the complete text of this announcement qualifies as a legal waiver for any and all immediate and/or longterm bodily harm and/or property damage that may result from contact with said sculpture. Enjoy the show!